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writing-hurts · 1 year

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How To Write And Research Mental Illnesses

Mental illnesses are a large aspect of literature often incorporated into various different genres. However, even with their prevalence, many authors are often unaware of how to write about mental illnesses accurately. If you’re an author writing a character with a mental illness, here are some tips on how to write with mental illnesses.

Don’t ‘Self Diagnose’ Your Characters

When writing about mental illnesses it’s important to consider whether or not your character would realistically have this mental illness given their situation and story. Many authors often ‘self diagnose’ their characters without actually taking the time to research these illnesses and figure out whether their character would develop this illness if they were a real person.

I say ‘self diagnose’ because as authors we generally do diagnose our characters based on our own interpretations and plans for them and their story, without looking to real people with these illnesses.

Just because your character is going through an unproductive slump doesn’t mean they they are depressed. Just because your character is nervous and experiencing stage fright doesn’t mean they have anxiety.

Take the time to look into these mental illnesses and genuinely consider whether or not your character has a mental illness, or if you’re just self diagnosing and wrongly labelling them.

Do Your Research

Whenever I blog about such sensitive topics, I always find myself ultimately mentioning this one point. This is because even with so many resources available to us both online and offline, writers still choose to be blissfully unaware of sensitive topics mentioned in their WIPs or stories.

I sincerely cannot stress how important it is for a writer to do their due diligence and research the topics they write for, especially if it is something as sensitive as mental illnesses.

Once you have established that your character would realistically develop or undergo a mental illness given the situation they are in, it is now time to research what exactly they would go through.

A simple google search can tell you everything you need to know about your character’s mental illness. Or, you could reach out to people you know who suffer from the same illness and ask them questions about it.

Researching your character’s mental illness helps ensure you don’t accidentally misrepresent that illness or create symptoms that are inaccurate and insulting to people who do suffer from that mental illness. It will also provide you with a sense of ease as an author, and allow you to work on your WIP without having to worry about accidentally offending an entire community.

Remember The Three Ss

One of the biggest challenges writers face with writing with mental illnesses is unrealistic representation. Unsure where to start with your research? Here is a simple guide for you to keep in mind.

When writing about mental illnesses, you need to recall the three Ss:

Symptoms

Side effects

Stages

Symptoms

Every illness or disease has its own symptoms, the same applies to mental illnesses. When writing about a character with mental illnesses, you need to take the time to research the symptoms of this illness and how these symptoms can impact your character on a day-to-day and general level.

For example, a character with PTSD would face trouble sleeping and concentrating, would be irritable, angry and face overwhelming guilt or shame. These symptoms can all make it hard for a person to excel at school or the workplace and can lead to delayed deadlines, unfinished work, and a lot of stress and anxious thinking.

A character with PTSD would likely not be able to handle being at the top of their class, unless they completely engross themselves in their studies to the point where they can’t think of anything except that. However, if that were the case then they would find it very hard to handle ‘normal’ situations and wouldn’t be getting a lot of sleep.

Side Effects

A side effect is a temporary and commonly unwanted effect of a drug or medical condition. Unlike a symptom, a side effect can be harmful or beneficial and most go away on their own over time.

They wouldn’t be considered as ‘serious’ as a symptom, however, they can still significantly impact your character, their story, and their dynamics with the characters they interact with.

Following the above example, a character with PTSD would generally suffer from an inability to develop or maintain positive, healthy interpersonal relationships and an inability to trust others. They also often face side effects such as social isolation, chronic feelings of fear, etc.

These are all side effects that would make it hard for a character with PTSD to maintain emotional relationships. You can use this to portray their sudden lack of connection with friends and family, and how they find themselves only associating with people who have either been through or understand their situation.

Stages

A person with cancer, or other such physical illnesses, doesn’t suddenly hit a chronic level overnight. The same logic applies to mental illnesses. Mental illnesses don’t just develop overnight. Your character won’t suddenly wake up one day in chapter ten and have a full-blown panic attack because they developed a panic disorder.

Yes, people can face symptoms or side effects pertaining to a mental illness after facing a traumatic event. However, when writing about such events, it’s very important to do your research and consider whether or not a person would realistically undergo such serious symptoms in such a small timeframe given the circumstances.

Outside of incidents that are a direct result of a traumatic event, it’s important to consider the stages your character would experience as a result of their mental illness.

For example, a person with PTSD goes through five stages, the first being the impact or emergency stage, during which they struggle to process or deal with the situation they have gone through. Then comes the denial or numbing stage.

Following the above example, a numbing stage would be akin to when a character pretends the traumatic event never occurred and throws themselves into their work or school. Then comes a rescue stage, which would be when other characters begin to intervene or when the character comes to terms with the events and starts to better themselves.

Knowing the stages of your character’s mental illness allows you to accurately plan out what happens in your story and create a realistic portrayal of their suffrage. It also helps flesh out your story for your readers and allows you to seamlessly incorporate your character’s illness into the story.

Don’t Define Them By Their Mental Illness

Now that you have a general idea of how to write and research mental illnesses, I would like to end this blog post with a small reminder. People with mental illnesses are human. They have personalities, hobbies, likes, dislikes, and other such traits that often have nothing to do with their mental illness.

When writing with a mental illness, it’s important to take this into account and ensure you don’t constantly define your character by their mental illness, or even worse, reduce them to their mental illness.

I hope this blog on how to write and research mental illnesses will help you in your writing journey. Be sure to comment any tips of your own to help your fellow authors prosper, and follow my blog for new blog updates every Monday and Thursday.

Looking For More Writing Tips And Tricks?

Are you an author looking for writing tips and tricks to better your manuscript? Or do you want to learn about how to get a literary agent, get published and properly market your book? Consider checking out the rest of Haya’s book blog where I post writing and marketing tools for authors every Monday and Thursday.

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writing-hurts · 1 year

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Whumper: Don't fear death, fear the state you will die in.

Whumpee, whispering fearfully: Ohio

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writing-hurts · 1 year

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HEAR ME OUT

Merlin season six where it’s modern day and merlin (bearded colin morgan) lives in London, and when arthur (still Bradley james) comes back to life they have to save the world and whatever BUT ALSO the knights haven’t come back to life but they’re like reincarnated into new people (varying genders/races/etc) who suddenly find themselves wrapped up in this medieval destiny

(Gwaine) just moved to London and is floating around looking for a place to crash—boom. Runs into Merlin, touch of destiny and all that, Merlin lets them stay in his spare room (they don’t have a job so they “pay rent” by not complaining when arthur and merlin do it in the next room, also by doing the dishes).

(Leon) is just trying to get through a master’s program in medieval studies and classic literature—boom. Runs into Merlin at a library, both of them looking for the same ancient document for research and they get overly invested in whatever it is Merlin and Arthur are working on because goddamn these strange men know a lot about saxon-era britain and that’s the topic of my thesis.

(Lancelot) is climbing the corporate ladder in some random business just trying to make ends meet—boom. Stops Merlin and/or Arthur from walking onto the street as a car hurtles past and there’s a sort of “aha” moment Merlin and Arthur take them out for coffee talking a bit about a problem they’re having with their mission and (Lancelot) asks a really obvious question they hadn’t considered so they adopt them.

(Elyan) is friends with (Leon)’s roommate and practically lives with them and one day when they’re there and the roommate is gone—boom. Everyone’s over so (Leon) can fetch a relevant document they’re borrowing for their research and (Elyan) answers some obscure question the others didn’t know so they get absorbed into the group.

(Percival) lives outside the city working a low level job after their rugby career was a bust and—boom. The team needs some help and (Lancelot) “knows a guy” because the two worked together on a project during their undergrad and weirdly stayed in touch ((Lancelot) helped them get their current job) so when they need some extra muscle…

So we get arthur and merlin in love having to save the world while parenting a team of half-feral 20-somethings who supposedly carry the spirits of their long-dead friends

Does this make sense? Please add on more ideas

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writing-hurts · 1 year

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I cannot tell you how happy these gif sets make me 😂

Barbie | Dir. Greta Gerwig

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writing-hurts · 1 year

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I have discovered that nothing inspires me to write more than reading other people’s writing on tumblr. Like y’all are SO TALENTED and it just makes me want to write too 🥺

Should I be catching up on work or studying for exams instead?

Probably.

For now I will simply immerse myself in this inimitable sea of creativity and drown in it 💖

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writing-hurts · 1 year

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Can we talk about the Whumpees who know they are going to be (re)captured? The ones who will meet their fate head on.

Sure, maybe they’ll fight, maybe they don’t. But they seek out Whumper willingly, fully knowing they don't stand a chance and very much aware of what's waiting for them.

They may leave a note. Could just contain a single word "Sorry".

Caretaker will notice something is off when they're more clingy, wanting to hug and cuddle. Whumpee just snuggles up against Caretaker, without a word, simply to feel this one last time. And as a goodbye. And reality will hit Caretaker like a ton of bricks when they receive the news, everything suddenly making sense.

Whumpee will stand around in their apartment, just dazed and looking around. Maybe they’ll rage. Rage against their fate. Or they'll cry and cry so that when they join Whumper there are no more tears left to fall.

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writing-hurts · 1 year

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me, as a reader: STOP HURTING THIS CHARACTER, HOW DARE YOU?!

me, as a writer: look at this poor glow stick

my character: i’m not a glow sti-

me, as a writer: *snaps character multiple times* look at them shine!!

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writing-hurts · 1 year

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its funny to have a nerd interest widely accepted by irritating elitist nerds (men) because like at the end of the day you like lord of the rings because you think war is cool and I like it because i think those hobbits were scissoring

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writing-hurts · 1 year

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Tip

Warnings: captivity, restraints, torture, forced to watch, caretaker and whumpee

Caretaker waited until Whumper had been gone for several minutes before crawling to the end of their chain and reaching through the bars of the cage to Whumpee. Their finger tips just brushed the edge of Whumpee’s shirt. “Whumpee?” Caretaker asked softly.

Whumpee groaned, beginning to slowly uncurl from the ball that Whumper had left them in. “C-C-Caretaker,” they managed to rasp out as they winced at any further movement.

“Don’t move. Stay there. It’s ok.” Caretaker brushed their fingers along Whumpee’s shirt. It was the best they could do to comfort Whumpee.

“Y’u ‘kay?” Whumpee’s voice was barely above a whisper. Caretaker suspected their throat hurt from all the screaming they had done over the last several hours.

“I’m fine, Whumpee. Dont’ worry about me. What about you?”

Whumpee blinked for a moment, as if considering lying and saying they were fine as well. “N-N-Not goooooddd,” they croaked at last.

Caretaker strained forward more, their finger tips just brushing along Whumpee’s cheek. “I wish I could do more, Whumpee. I wish it was me.”

Whumpee’s eyes flashed. “N-N-No. M-Me. Not y-y-youuuu.” They closed their eyes again as they shifted trying to get closer to Caretaker. They winced and let out a whimper.

“Don’t move. It’s ok, Whumpee, it’s ok. I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.” Caretaker brushed Whumpee’s cheek once more, cursing Whumper for locking them up like this. For kidnapping both of them. For hurting Whumpee. And for making them watch Whumpee’s torture.

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writing-hurts · 1 year

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found these instructions in a notes file of mine and figured someone here might appreciate it

For when your whump has lost its bite step by step guide:

choose a victim. whatever character you currently want to rotate in your mind.

identify Traits. how they present themself, and how they tend to solve problems. things you can pull apart like stringy cheese. do they have a brave front? do they tend to talk their way out of situations?

identify fears and stressors, and strum them in ways that target relationships. things like trust issues, or uncertainty in a relationship.

in a stressful situation, how will they act Exactly Like Themselves? how will they act differently? will a façade crack? will a fast-talker bargain or will they go quiet?

mess around with details to see what changes. the emotional response to a kidnapper vs hostile environments vs horror monsters vs eldritch horrors vs completely alien aliens, etc, can be very different. maybe they’re used to the elements but targeted malice is foreign to them. maybe they know how to bargain but something they can’t talk to is horrifying, be that a monster, an alien, or a storm. see what happens when you take away their favorite tools. what happens when the manipulator can’t speak, or the one who relies on friendship is alone?

always keep pushing it. ignore the instinct to give them a better time. see if you can take it further. dreams and fucked up nightmare dimensions can be helpful for Pushing if you don’t want to actually kill a character or similar permanent damages.

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writing-hurts · 1 year

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Lessons

Okay I know this is a very typical trope but I’m in a mood. This is the first long drabble I’ve written in a while woah

Cw: torture, kidnapping, captivity, restraints, collars (power inhibiting), blood, creepy/intimate whumper, multiple whumpees, there’s a character referred to as “Youngest”, but they are not a minor, noncon touching (nonsexual), noncon partial stripping (nonsexual, just a shirt), knife, references to past torture/abuse

“Well, Leader, how lovely it is to see you again,”

Heavy boots fell hard against the concrete floor, crossing the room in a few long strides. Leader glared up silently, shifting up straighter, trying to appear as sturdy and authoritative as they could in such a vulnerable position. Bound on their knees, their arms twisted above them with shackles biting into their wrists, shoulders straining with the stress of the position, there wasn’t much they could do to help themself except hold their chin up.

“Mm, not much to say? That’s alright, I’ll do the talking for now.” Whumper grinned, stopping just in front of them, their hands resting casually in their pockets.

Leader’s jaw clenched, their teeth gritting together. They couldn’t get mad. They couldn’t speak out. They couldn’t spit and curse and demand to be released or holy hell Whumper will regret this-

Their eyes flicked past Whumper, looking back to their team for just a moment. Against the opposite wall, Healer was restrained in a similar manner, blood dripping down from both their nostrils, staining the front of their shirt. Whumper’s henchmen hadn’t exactly been gentle when escorting them to the cell.

Leader was sure the setup was intentional. One of them against each wall. Teammate to Leader’s left, Youngest to their right. The door was against the corner between Teammate and Healer, shut and guarded by a henchman.

“Ah, ah Leader, eyes on me.” Whumper chided, snapping their fingers to draw Leader’s attention back to them. “We have some matters to discuss now, don’t you agree?”

When Leader didn’t answer, Whumper’s smirk didn’t falter. They crouched down in front of them, clasping their hands together as they rocked back onto their heels.

“I must say, you’re looking much better than when we were last together. Did you get your hair cut?”

Their hand lashed forwards, fingers raking roughly through Leader’s tangled hair, their fingers twisting in the locks and wrenching back their head. A small gasp of air passed through their teeth before they could stifle it, small sparks of pain lighting across their scalp. Whumper chuckled, their fist wounding a bit tighter as their other hand raised, their fingers brushing across Leader’s bared throat, dipping down to the base of their neck. Hooking under the metal contraption and tugging, making Leader hiss.

“You know where I got these beauties from?” Whumper murmured, their eyes sparkling with a cruel light as they admired the collar, tracing their thumb over the little red light that indicated the power inhibitor was functioning. “I got them from you, Leader. Your agency’s own creation. I must say, whoever came up with this is quite the genius.”

Whumper chuckled when Leader tried to twist their head away, wrenching their head back and leaning even closer. “Oh I’m sure you’re missing your phasing right about now. How easy it would be for you to just slip out of these chains and free your team.”

Whumper’s fingers danced to their chin, tracing a faded scar along their jaw, a reminiscent smile curling their lips.

“I remember this one,” They hummed, giving Leader’s cheek a light slap before standing back up straight. They stepped back to the center of the room, turning in a slow circle as they surveyed their captives.

“Teammate, stunning as ever,” they commented, and Leader felt something in them twist. Teammate didn’t respond, their head hanging forwards, slumped down. Blood matted the side of their hair, streaking all the way to their temple. A dark bruise crept across their cheekbone, the colors just beginning to set in. Their chest rose and fell in small dips of breath, the only indicator they were still alive.

“Healer, has anyone ever told you how dashing you look in red? It really is your color,”

Whumper turned, their hands falling to rest against their hips as they looked over Youngest. Aside from a few shallow looking scratches along their face, they thankfully looked unharmed. Leader had heard them cry earlier, right after Whumper’s henchmen initially attacked, and they had been scared the kid had been hurt. Just shock from the attack, Leader thought with a sigh, feeling some of the tension in their mind release.

“Hm, Youngest, I presume? I don’t think we’ve met before, but I’m honored you could join us today.” Whumper dipped their head, a twisted greeting. Youngest luckily had the sense to bite back their response.

Shit, they shouldn’t have even been there. Neither should Healer have. It was just supposed to be Teammate and them, a quick mission, in and out. Undetected, if they did it right. Healer had insisted on coming along because god forbid, either of them got hurt, and when Youngest heard that of course they didn’t want to be the only one left behind. The conditions were stay in the van, stay low and hidden. Healer was told explicitly that if something were to go wrong, to hit the gas and get the hell away.

They hadn’t even gotten that chance. It had been an ambush the moment Leader stepped out of the vehicle.

“You’re all so quiet, I’m sure Leader taught you well. Is that right, Youngest? Has Leader ever taught you how to act in a captive situation?”

No, they hadn’t. Why the hell would they have? Youngest had only joined the team a month ago, fresh out of the agency’s training course. The only missions they had been on were civilian cases, petty thefts and grocery store robberies. The only thing Leader had told them even remotely relating to such a topic was that if they were ever in trouble, call for help, don’t play the hero.

Whumper clicked their tongue after a moment, when Youngest remained silent. Their eyes met Leader’s, and the most the later could offer was a small shake of their head.

“Clearly not. That’s alright, I can teach you. It’s just not fair to put you in such a situation without any prior education. Don’t you agree, Leader? I’m sure you can sympathize.”

Whumper’s hand dipped into the pocket of their jacket, reappearing a moment later with something small clasped in their palm.

Leader didn’t miss the hitch in Youngest’s breath when Whumper flicked open the blade.

“I planned to have this talk with Teammate first, you know, cause they and Leader seem pretty close, but I don’t think they’re lucid enough to truly understand the lesson I’m trying to convey. Healer, I’m sure they already know, so that would just be redundant,” Whumper spoke with a light tone, their voice flowing and carefree, voice of any sort of urgency or fight. If anything, they seemed content, without a care in the world.

“Has Leader ever told you about our history?” Whumper asked, flipping the switch knife over in their palm with an experienced sort of comfort maneuvering the blade. “No? I’m not surprised—you should really ask them sometime, or maybe I’ll just tell you later, there’s some good stories buried down there.”

Whumper gave youngest a smile, one that may have been reassuring if not for the cruel glint in their gaze as they turned towards Leader, steadying their grip on the handle.

“For now, though, I’ll just show you.”

Whumper stepped towards them, and it took everything in Leader not to flinch as they knelt down in front of them, one hand tugging at the collar of their shirt while the other sliced away at the fabric with the blade. They had already been stripped of their jacket and their under armor, leaving them in only a long sleeve, similar to the rest of their team, which Whumper cut through with relative ease. They tore the shirt down the center and then ripped the sleeves, letting the tattered fabric fall discarded to the floor besides them.

Heat pricked at the base of Leader’s neck, but they refused to let any emotion other than stoic indifference betray their expression. Their chest, arms, abdomen, back, decorated with scars. Nothing their team hadn’t seen before. They’ve all seen it. Leader had never given them the details of the tortures so clearly displayed across their skin, and they had never pried. What they had once hid, indifferent as anything else.

But now with Whumper in front of them, grin full of sadistic pleasure, they felt their chest burn with a bitter humiliation they hadn’t felt in years.

“I always hated how messy this was,” Whumper commented, dragging the tip of the blade across a jagged line that split down Leader’s stomach, putting just enough pressure behind the knife for it to scratch but not draw blood. “Nothing to do about that now.“

They stood up and stepped away from Leader without another word, humming a single note as they returned to stand in front of Youngest.

“Don’t worry, I’ll save the worst of the lessons to deal between Healer and Teammate. As for you, well, I suppose we need to figure out where to start above anything else.”

“No,” Youngest grit out, the first words spoken by anyone other than Whumper since the capture. Their voice was small, raspy and cracking with fear they tried so hard not to let break into their expression.

“Well then, first—why don’t we call this ‘Lesson one’? Be sure to remember it, there might be a test later,” Whumper chuckled, lowering themself to one knee so they could reach the hem of Youngest’s shirt, taking their time as they cut away the fabric. “When you’re in a hostile environment, the best thing you can do is stay quiet and compliant. Follow the rules so you don’t put yourself in a worse position, keep your mouth shut so you don’t give anything away. Simple enough?”

Youngest’s shirt fell and they cringed away, the chains that bound their wrists clinking as they pressed back into the wall. A deep red bruise bloomed against their ribs, and Leader felt something in their chest wrench.

“I’ll make this really easy for you, Youngest. I won’t ask you to tell me anything confidential. We’re just going to practice being quiet, alright? It’s fine if you cry, but I don’t want you screaming. You can do that, can’t you? I’ve heard you were extremely gifted with your performance with the agency, so this should be easy,”

Leader’s blood boiled inside their veins, hands curling into fists above their head. Nails biting into their palms, if looked could kill Whumper would have already been buried. That was all they could do. Look. Make eye contact with Healer, shake their head to try and convey the message of be quiet, and bite their tongue.

They didn’t want to look. They didn’t want to watch, but they felt like they owed Youngest that much. The comfort of knowing they weren’t alone, that even though Leader couldn’t reach out and offer them the physical assurance, even though they couldn’t call over and tell them that it’ll be alright, they were still there.

A hot anger boiled in their chest as Whumper slowly, tauntingly brought the knife to Youngest’s chest, tracing from their collarbone to their sternum, smirking as Youngest flinched under the touch like it was burning hot.

“I’ve always had trouble deciding what to do with a new canvas. The pressure of it all, knowing that with one little mistake, it can all be ruined,” Whumper’s voice was airy, lips curling into a grin as they flicked the knife across Youngest’s abdomen, making a small cut just below the bottom of their ribs, shushing them when they gasped.

“Remember what I said,” was all Whumper warned, watching as a bead of blood welled from the scratch. “Now, what do you think would look better on you… some sort of pattern, maybe? Maybe a mandala? We’d have to do that in a few sessions though, I doubt you could take it in one. Leader, doll, what do you suggest? Perhaps something floral?”

Leader clenched their jaw, their neck burning with shame as Youngest’s wide, tearful eyes rose to them, terrified and pained.

“Leave them alone, Whumper,” Leader’s voice was tight, a bit ragged. “Do it to me. Hurt me, however you want, not my team.”

“Oh leader, it’s cute that you think I still want you. I’ve had my fun, and your screams just don’t… entertain me in the way I’m looking for. But none of that answers my question, so I guess you forfeit that choice. Hm… how about my symbol? Oh yeah, right here would look nice.”

Whumper grinned as they poked the knife against Youngest’s midriff, taking their cry as a yes.

“Isn’t it great, Youngest, you get to be special like this? Leader only ever got my initials.”

And so, the first lesson began.

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